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Non-automotive manufacturing in the Eastern Cape: a study of the sector's decline and possible policy solutions

The automotive and automotive components industry has long formed the backbone of manufacturing in the Eastern Cape. Supported by the Motor Industry Development Programme (MIDP) since 1995, the sector has been a major source of industrial growth and employment creation in the province. In contrast,...

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Main Author: Martin, Lucy
Other Authors: Morris, Michael
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: School of Economics 2014
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access_status_str Open Access
author Martin, Lucy
author2 Morris, Michael
author_browse Martin, Lucy
Morris, Michael
author_facet Morris, Michael
Martin, Lucy
author_sort Martin, Lucy
collection Thesis
description The automotive and automotive components industry has long formed the backbone of manufacturing in the Eastern Cape. Supported by the Motor Industry Development Programme (MIDP) since 1995, the sector has been a major source of industrial growth and employment creation in the province. In contrast, the province's non-automotive manufacturing (NAM) firms, the vast majority of which were attracted to the area by generous apartheid-era incentive schemes in the 1970s and 1980s, are struggling to maintain output and employment in the absence of government support. Since the withdrawal of incentives in 1992, non-automotive subsectors have experienced a contraction in output and employment, few new entrants, little innovation, and a substantial amount of firm closures. This thesis aims to identify the current constraints facing non-automotive manufacturing firms in the Eastern Cape. Its findings are based on interviews conducted in September and October 2013. 25 firms and 7 key industry representatives were interviewed in the metros and surrounding industrial areas of East London and Port Elizabeth. Interviews were structured loosely around a questionnaire that focused on eight identified constraining factors. The interview process was conversational, aimed at engaging in a meaningful dialogue with firms and industry representatives. The secondary aim of this thesis is to utilise the information obtained through firm interviews to provide possible targeted policy solutions to address the constraints facing non-automotive manufacturing subsectors in the Eastern Cape. In light of the Eastern Cape Provincial Industrial Development Strategy's (PIDS) scheduled revision in 2015, this thesis makes the case for (1) placing a larger emphasis on regionally and sectorally specific industry policies within the new PIDS;; and (2) increasing engagement with the private sector in order to better inform the policymaking process.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
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license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2014
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spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/6834 Non-automotive manufacturing in the Eastern Cape: a study of the sector's decline and possible policy solutions Martin, Lucy Morris, Michael The automotive and automotive components industry has long formed the backbone of manufacturing in the Eastern Cape. Supported by the Motor Industry Development Programme (MIDP) since 1995, the sector has been a major source of industrial growth and employment creation in the province. In contrast, the province's non-automotive manufacturing (NAM) firms, the vast majority of which were attracted to the area by generous apartheid-era incentive schemes in the 1970s and 1980s, are struggling to maintain output and employment in the absence of government support. Since the withdrawal of incentives in 1992, non-automotive subsectors have experienced a contraction in output and employment, few new entrants, little innovation, and a substantial amount of firm closures. This thesis aims to identify the current constraints facing non-automotive manufacturing firms in the Eastern Cape. Its findings are based on interviews conducted in September and October 2013. 25 firms and 7 key industry representatives were interviewed in the metros and surrounding industrial areas of East London and Port Elizabeth. Interviews were structured loosely around a questionnaire that focused on eight identified constraining factors. The interview process was conversational, aimed at engaging in a meaningful dialogue with firms and industry representatives. The secondary aim of this thesis is to utilise the information obtained through firm interviews to provide possible targeted policy solutions to address the constraints facing non-automotive manufacturing subsectors in the Eastern Cape. In light of the Eastern Cape Provincial Industrial Development Strategy's (PIDS) scheduled revision in 2015, this thesis makes the case for (1) placing a larger emphasis on regionally and sectorally specific industry policies within the new PIDS;; and (2) increasing engagement with the private sector in order to better inform the policymaking process. 2014-09-02T09:54:05Z 2014-09-02T09:54:05Z 2014 Master Thesis Masters MEcon http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6834 eng application/pdf School of Economics Faculty of Commerce University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Martin, Lucy
Non-automotive manufacturing in the Eastern Cape: a study of the sector's decline and possible policy solutions
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Non-automotive manufacturing in the Eastern Cape: a study of the sector's decline and possible policy solutions
title_full Non-automotive manufacturing in the Eastern Cape: a study of the sector's decline and possible policy solutions
title_fullStr Non-automotive manufacturing in the Eastern Cape: a study of the sector's decline and possible policy solutions
title_full_unstemmed Non-automotive manufacturing in the Eastern Cape: a study of the sector's decline and possible policy solutions
title_short Non-automotive manufacturing in the Eastern Cape: a study of the sector's decline and possible policy solutions
title_sort non automotive manufacturing in the eastern cape a study of the sector s decline and possible policy solutions
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6834
work_keys_str_mv AT martinlucy nonautomotivemanufacturingintheeasterncapeastudyofthesectorsdeclineandpossiblepolicysolutions